This post is for all who have had disappointments, who is in limbo or waiting for new things to take root in their lives. God is not interested in your achievements; God wants you. Because he loves you and he is the author of real life.

I have had two well-known but ever-powerful metaphors speaking to my soul this week. The metaphor of a grain of wheat is found in John 12:

“Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal. “If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you’ll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment’s notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me. (John 12:24-26, MSG)

A life used only for amusement and selfish pursuits is just a grain of wheat. Nothing more. That’s our life lived on our own. I don’t want that. I do want to bear much fruit. I want to follow Jesus. I want to lose my life for Jesus. How can I do that in real life? So many Christians want this but they don’t know how.

Jesus told us to be ready to serve at a moment’s notice. How can we do that? By centering our thoughts and plans on him. Only by surrendering our lives every morning to God, we are ready to be used at any moment.

We lose our ability to hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit if we are not tuned to Jesus. We lose our readiness to believe and act on our beliefs. How do I know this? Sadly by experience. I’ve been there, done that. And, sadly, I keep doing it time after time. I don’t mean to. But it is so easy to be swept into happy chatter of living. But first things need to come first. Otherwise we are serving ourselves and not the Lord.

But there are good news for us. Grace is stronger than our transgressions.

If you feel that you are buried right now. Rest assured that God will keep his promises. New things come through death. When we are less, God is more. Wait for good because God is good.

If you feel you are not ready to serve the Lord at a moment’s notice, cling more to Jesus. Bury yourself in the word of God. Embody it. Start serving by doing one thing at a time. The more you get involved in serving, the more fruit you will bear.

If you feel that you’ve messed up. Know that you are precious in God’s hands. God does not require a perfect life, God wants you. Let him rework your life as he wants.

The second metaphor reminds us of this hope:

So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. (Jeremiah 18:3-4, ESV)

God is the potter and we are his clay. When things turn out badly, God can create something new out of our lives. We just need to remain in the Potter’s hands.

Even flawed clay is precious in the hands of the Master.

Because it is not about us.
It is about God and his masterful art of pottery.
It is all about grace.

 

Gracious God,
Encourage us to die to ourselves daily.
Because you are the source of real life.
Ready us to serve you at a moment’s notice.
Enable us to follow Jesus without hesitation.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: How do you deal with disappointments?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you surrender to the Master Potter daily!

Image courtesy of Marian Trinidad. Linking up today with Unite the Bloggersphere and #tellhisstory.